Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Stupid Rooster

 For the past four months our incubators, hatchers and brooders have been running. Total estimated cost to run them per month is around $60.00  to $75.00

Potential long term income from one months operation with a 100% hatch and mortality rate is around $3700.00
(that is hatching 210 eggs and selling those chicks at eight months old and does not factor in the cost of feed. For this post, I am just focusing on one months electricity use to continuity run the devices and re-setting)

I learned long ago that you never count your chickens before they hatch. You never really understand that statement until you do so and get burnt. Even taking that advise, I still count on a percentage. If I set 200 eggs and figure a modest 60% hatch rate then I can almost for sure count on 120 chicks.
Last year after building my own incubator, my hatch rate increased from 40% to 95%. That was something I could count on. It hit it every time.

Saying that, I counted on that rate this year as well. My first batch hatched at a neck breaking 1%. Thinking that it was just a first time goof, I sat another batch. That one hatched at 36% and the next one after that at 7%.
It is now coming down to the end of the third batch of eggs and I will candle them this weekend.
Everything is the same. My incubator is set right, with the right humidity, right turners, right everything. I am doing nothing different with these eggs than I was doing with the 95% eggs.
What has hatched out now will not even pay for the electricity it took to hatch and brood them. It will actually be cheaper to buy chicks than to keep doing it this way.

I have beat myself up really bad on this trying to figure it out until last night. I was sitting out back thinking what in the world is going on with these eggs and then I saw the problem, It's my rooster. I saw him do it five times in a row.

Last year I had to sell all my breeding stock and start over. All the chickens I have now are young and just started laying four months ago. That was one of the reasons I figured for the bad rate on the first hatch. Maybe they were all pullet eggs and not fertile.

The stupid rooster is mounting the hens wrong. He is mounting them backwards, head to butt. (Picture it so I do not have to describe it any further)
This is why when I candle the eggs just a few are fertile, but most are not. Sometimes he does get it right.
I know what I need to do, I need to get a smarter Rooster because I am not going to show him how it's done.
(Even though this is really not funny, it kinda it and deserves a good laugh)

18 comments:

  1. LMAO! That is one extremely stupid rooster. You almost have a responsibility to your customers to not sell birds descended from such a stupid rooster. :) I wish you the best in finding a better boy for your hens!

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  2. He must be young. My alph male goose is doing the same thing even though his mate is being very accommodating. It's funny to watch. Especially since the male duck wants to show him how it is done. Maybe you could borrow a rooster that is a little older?

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  3. Go ahead and show the rooster how to mount his hens...I know you can do it...really, it's alright.

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  4. Reminds me of a couple of old jokes. The first is the old saw about "if it's a pain in the butt, you're doing it wrong." the other is is the joke about the race between the young and old rooster. The punch line involves the farmer shooting the "third gay rooster this week".

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  5. Training films? Just thinking.....

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  6. You made my morning...and I kind of would like to see pics...of the rooster, not the training film lol.

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  7. Rae - Thank you and the problem is he is of a rare breed and nobody else has one like him. I would have to buy on as a chick and it would be a year before he could go to work. In that time I hope he finds the right side of things.

    sista - I know all young roosters do the same thing for a short period and then learn the right way. I hope this one does the same thing. I am buying a replacement rooster as a chick so I will have to deal with it for a year.

    Stephen - Should I post it in you tube?

    SK - Oh yea, I could think of many many jokes to go with this one.

    John - Training films, Just think, the wife brings her church book club home and finds me on the couch with my "male rooster" in one hand watching porn. There is no way I could explain my way out of it. "But dear, I was just showing him how" Way too funny.

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  8. Carolyn - Will do. I might even catch him in the act and you are right, you can find the training videos all over the internet.

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  9. Bummer on the ease of replacement. Ah well. I hope, as my grandma would say, that he'll straighten up and fly right. :)

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  10. hey do you want to use one of my roos just a thought

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  11. Mom - It needs to a Heavy Breed Cochin.

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  12. bahahahha. i don't even know what else to say. bahahahah!

    your friend,
    kymber

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  13. ROFL, ROFL are you kidding, really not funny. Nope its reallllly funny :O)... Snicker, snicker, okay I am moving on now. :O)

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  14. Kymber - Good enough,
    Thanks for stopping by.

    Texan - Glad I could give you a laugh today and yes it is really funny, even better in person.

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  15. yep, rooster soup...

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  16. Anony - Agreed

    SFG - I don't think so. He is still going at the hens, just not the right way.

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